By Combs                                              H.C.R. No. 19
       74R647 BNL-D
                                 CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
    1-1        WHEREAS, On August 18, 1995, Americans will mark the 75th
    1-2  anniversary of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the
    1-3  United States Constitution, the amendment which secured the right
    1-4  of female citizens to vote; and
    1-5        WHEREAS, This amendment, debated in Congress as House Joint
    1-6  Resolution No. 1, was introduced by Representative James Robert
    1-7  Mann, a Republican from Illinois; it was proposed to the state
    1-8  legislatures by the 66th Congress on June 4, 1919, and was ratified
    1-9  by the 2nd Called Session of the 36th Texas Legislature on June 28,
   1-10  1919; and
   1-11        WHEREAS, Coupled with the earlier Fifteenth Amendment, the
   1-12  adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment guaranteed that all adult
   1-13  citizens, regardless of race or gender, would have equal access to
   1-14  the most powerful tool of democracy--the election ballot; and
   1-15        WHEREAS, The right to vote is perhaps the most important and
   1-16  sacred of American rights, for it is fundamental to our system of
   1-17  governance; it gives all citizens an equal voice in government,
   1-18  regardless of social stature, income, or family lineage, and
   1-19  prevents the tyranny of elites that has proven the downfall of many
   1-20  countries; and
   1-21        WHEREAS, While nations around the world struggle to build the
   1-22  type of stable and inclusive political system that has made the
   1-23  United States strong, Americans have enjoyed an unprecedented two
   1-24  centuries of peaceful transfers of power; even during times of war
    2-1  or domestic unrest, the right of citizens to choose their leaders
    2-2  has continued uninterrupted; and
    2-3        WHEREAS, Americans owe a great debt of gratitude to the women
    2-4  and men who devoted their lives to the struggle for universal
    2-5  suffrage in the United States, for in opening up the process of
    2-6  democracy to all citizens, they ensured that our nation would live
    2-7  up to its promise of freedom and equality for everyone; and
    2-8        WHEREAS, It is all too easy for Americans to take for granted
    2-9  the blessings of liberty that are our birthright, and so on this
   2-10  historic anniversary, it is only fitting that each American reflect
   2-11  on the rights that we have and on the responsibilities attendant to
   2-12  those rights; and
   2-13        WHEREAS, The future of a democratic government rests in the
   2-14  hands of the voters, and August 18, 1920--with the pivotal
   2-15  ratification of this constitutional amendment by the Tennessee
   2-16  General Assembly--marked the first time in American history that
   2-17  the future of the country was entrusted to all adult citizens;
   2-18  thus, the anniversary of this important date is indeed worthy of
   2-19  special legislative recognition; now, therefore, be it
   2-20        RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas,
   2-21  Regular Session, 1995, hereby commemorate the 75th anniversary of
   2-22  the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States
   2-23  Constitution and the extension of voting rights to all citizens.